"You don't get to 45 years just because you're lucky," executive
producer Jill Farren Phelps told The Associated Press as the cast and
crew celebrated GH's April 1 birthday with punch and cake on the show's
hospital set at ABC's Prospect Studios.

"But at this rate we'll be lucky to make it to 50," she added.

"I think we're walking a fine line," said Phelps. "I'm very proud of
all of the stuff 'General Hospital' is doing, especially the CGI. It's
very cutting edge. We're trying to give a new look to this medium but
without putting off our audience and making them wonder, 'What have you
done to my show?'"

You are failing. Oh, and by the way, what the eff have you done to my show?

"I'm always looking to see how to get more people to watch our soaps,"
ABC daytime President Brian Frons told the AP. "As part of that, later
this year, 'General Hospital' will finally premiere in France. For us,
it's not just about viewers on the broadcast network, it's about
viewers around the world."

"International viewers, especially ones for whom English is not their first language, will take much longer to figure out the extent to which the show sucks now," Frons further explained. "France was an especially important target for us, because people there think Jerry Lewis is hilarious and find Gerard Depardieu sexy. We think sex symbol Sonny Corinthos, moral center Jason Morgan, and bestest mother and woman ever Carly will be big hits there."

Seriously, 45 years is impressive. And while the most recent of those years has been about 80% awful (and that's being generous), this show had some fantastically great years. Decades, even. Let's reminisce! Post your favorite GH clips or watch others' and remember why you started watching this once-fantastic soap. And of course, remember to raise a toast on this big anniversary. If you're like me (and Kelly Monaco, I suspect), it will be something along the lines of

Comments

"It's apparent that Guza had input on this one because a jason/liz makeout scene was added (glad i didn't eat before watching) as was the clip of jason shooting up the church. and the last three clips were of Carly/Jax, Jason/Liz, and Sonny/Brenda-the holy trinity of the mob!!"

I'm just surprised Guza didn't fit in the Good Friday Massacre. Or at least one Copkilla Eyeroll.

I began watching GH in high school at a friend's house. She would explain the storyline, back story and relationships to me. I didn't care until the day Robert Scorpio walked into ELQ. The dark good looks, the Aussie accent, I was hooked. There have been times when I didn't watch (the first time Lucy Coe left, for example)but I've always come back. I don't mind the "anyone can be killed at any moment" mindset on GH of late, But I do mind the lack of fun and adventure. When I watch the old clips on YouTube, I'm reminded of how much fun GH used to be: Luke and Laura's summer adventures, Lucy Coe's endearing wackiness, Robert and Anna's banter, Sean and Tiffany's wedding—--the absolute best and funniest TV wedding ever. The WSB was corny and over the top, but it was great because you could tell that no one was taking themselves too seriously. And sure, characters who died always seemed to come back, but after awhile away. In barely the last year, characters have died but we still can't get rid of them: Alan is a ghost, Carly went to purgatory, Emily is a hallucination and Luke went on trial for his life. There's no fun anymore, no adventure, no pure escapism. I love to get all choked up over the Port Chuck folks as anyone else (I still cry when I watch clips of the BJ's heart storyline) but I want the writers to put the fun back in GH. As for them not showing any kind of 45th anniversary clips or tribute, it makes perfect sense. By showing us GH's past glory, it would have only pointed out how tarnished the show has become. All you have to do is watch an old clip on YouTube of a traditional Quartermaine Thanksgiving, see the mansion filled with family, pizza, and loopy joy to lament the good old days and see the problems that have beset GH.